Simon Cowell ready to exit 'Idol' says brother

After much speculation, it appears the upcoming ninth season of American Idol will be his last. The news broke in a podcast done by Simon's brother, which supported rumblings that appeared in an article in The Times of London and has been circulated around the Web this evening. Per NYTimes.com:

Tony Cowell said that “a press statement is being prepared which will confirm what everybody expected: Simon will leave ‘Idol’ at the end of 2010 to concentrate on bringing the American version of ‘X Factor’ to U.S. TV in 2011.”

If this is true, it shouldn't come as a surprise. Simon has been itching to bring his mega popular X Factor across the pond to the U.S., and there's no better time to do this. Although once this changing of the guards takes place, it would be hard to find a way for Idol to continue in its present state, and its declining ratings would probably be accelerated. Whatever happens, we can expect a lot of news to be made beginning after Christmas.